Prince Charles helps to plant The Queen’s Meadow in Green Park in honour of the Queen’s 90th birthday.

Prince Charles is a patron of the conservation charity Plantlife that has been raising awareness about the loss of wildflower meadows in the UK since the Queen’s coronation in 1953. In 2013 the Coronation Meadow project was started by Prince Charles to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Queen’s Coronation.

Over 97 percent of the UK’s meadows have disappeared since the Second World War, impacting the health of pollinators like bees that benefit from a diverse flower diet. Only tiny fragments of these ancient meadows remain, but the seeds sown in the Coronation Meadows come from these fragments.

“Across the UK conservation organisations, landowners and volunteers have been answering the Prince’s clarion call to help reverse the loss of meadows from our countryside and The Royal Parks have now joined that list with what will be an inspiring example of a thriving meadow in the very heart of London,” said Coronation Meadows Project Manager, Dan Merrett.

Since the Coronation Meadows project began, 90 new wildflower meadows spanning 1000 acres have been created across the UK.

The new Coronation Meadow in The Green Park, one of London’s eight Royal Parks, employed a traditional land preparation method using shire horses to pull a harrow to scratch the ground before planting.

“Meadows are host to a large range of wildflower and grass species, and in turn provide nectar and food source for invertebrates,” said Assistant Park Manager of Green Park and St James’s Park, Mike Turner. “As outlined in The Royal Parks pollinator strategy, the creation of meadows is one of our key objectives so we are both delighted and honoured to have The Queen’s Meadow here in The Green Park.

The project is a partnership between Plantlife, the Wildflower Trusts and the Rare Breeds Survival Trust.

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